Cherokee — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- Ray Noble
- Year:
- 1938
- Key:
- Bb major
- Form:
- AABA (64 bars)
- Style:
- Jazz Standard
- Tempo:
- 140–260 BPM
Cherokee is a challenging bebop standard composed by Ray Noble in 1938 and famously recorded by Charlie Parker. This 64-bar AABA form features rapid chord changes, particularly in the bridge which moves through multiple key centers in quick succession. The tune is a rite of passage for bebop musicians and demands technical fluency and harmonic sophistication.
About This Standard
Composed by British bandleader Ray Noble in 1938, Cherokee became a bebop proving ground after Charlie Parker used it as the basis for "Ko-Ko" (1945), one of the landmark recordings of the bebop era. Its extremely fast chord changes in the bridge — cycling through remote key centers at a rapid pace — make it one of the most demanding standards in the jazz repertoire at up-tempo.
Notable recordings:
- Charlie Parker — Ko-Ko (1945, contrafact on Cherokee changes)
- Charlie Barnet — (1939, original swing version)
- Clifford Brown — (various recordings)
- Bud Powell — (various recordings)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
Cherokee is a 64-bar standard (AABA with 16-bar sections) in Bb major. The A sections are in Bb major with typical ii-V-I motion. The 16-bar bridge is the challenge: it starts in B major (a half-step above Bb), then moves to Bb major via Bb major, then to Ab major, then to Gb major — cycling through four keys a major third apart in an early precursor to Coltrane's Giant Steps concept. At bebop tempos (250+ BPM), the bridge demands instant harmonic fluency across remote key centers.